PC Language:
“Political language … is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” – George Orwell, Politics and the English Language (1946)
What is the role of PC Language in the 21st Century? Does Orwell’s perception of PC language still hold true today? Discuss with reference to Australian society.
Introduction:
- Reword the topic: PC language is a disgrace to the English language, it “makes us stupid”.
- It makes us gullible and we believe anything we’re told
- Orwell thinks it makes us accept horrific things as normal and acceptable
- In the 21st Century, though, PC language does have a time and a place – but only if carefully implemented
Body:
- For each, when are they appropriate? When is it overkill? Examples of ‘appropriate’ use vs. ‘gone too far’ – all examples should be Australian-specific if possible
o Paragraph 1: Gender terms
Appropriate: Chairperson
Too far: “hir” for “his/her” (gender-neutral pronouns considered ‘ridiculous’), history / herstory
o Paragraph 2: Age terms
Appropriate: ‘elderly’ instead of ‘old’
Too far: … are there any?
o Paragraph 3: Race terms
Appropriate: ‘Indigenous Australian’ instead of ‘Blackfella’ or ‘Abo’
Too far: The plant ‘black boy’ being renamed ‘grass tree’?
o Other paragraphs if necessary:
Mental Proficiency
• Too far? Idiots are defined as those “incapable of gaining reason” and lunatics as people only “capable of periods of lucidity”
Perceptions of beauty (height, weight, body shape, etc)
Stature? The little people race this year that got everyone upset (dwarves)
Religion? “Fundamentalist” or “extremist” instead of “sociopath” etc
- Also:
o Comedic use:
Parody: PC version of Little Red Riding Hood, Baa Baa ‘Rainbow’ Sheep, etc.
Not-so-Parody: BBC states no more “offensive humour” -> would Fawlty Towers or Allo Allo be made in the current day/age? Can we really only now make fun of middle aged white men lest we offend?
Does comedic use indicate the views of society on PC language? Can we hypothesize that PC language is by and large outdated and rejected in our modern world?
- Contrasting views: when is PC language a positive influence? When is it necessary? How does it create a ‘polite’ society? What level of social distance necessitates PC language?
Conclusion:
- Restatement of argument – PC language has deteriorated, but it is still necessary
- Support with comments regarding social distance, politeness, formal situations, etc
- Orwell may be right, but with proper use PC language has its place
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Intro:
Politically correct (PC) language is a 20th Century construct that arose out of a need to minimize the impact and effect of potentially offensive or discriminatory language. As with the intent behind the use of euphemism, PC language was initially utilised to ‘soften’ taboo or culturally offensive language in order to make it as non-offensive to the widest variety of audiences possible. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of how language affects the way people understand the world and behave within it contributed to the initial positive attitudes toward PC language, in that it was believed that if we refined what was ‘offensive’ to others, we would by default refine ourselves; thus creating a society with members of a higher prestige. By the late 20th Century and early 21st Century, however, PC language was viewed almost exclusively in a pejorative sense. Making ‘lies sound truthful and murder respectable’, PC language has increasingly been viewed as giving ‘an appearance of solidity to pure wind’; making the ridiculous or the extreme seem acceptable and normal. Orwell’s mid-20th Century denouement of PC language has never been more apt in Australia today; rather than being a positive contributor to communication, PC language is decried as a ‘watering down’ of the English language, cementing the deterioration of the quality of meaning contained within the semantics of the English lexis.
Conclusion:
While PC language has deteriorated to become almost a phenomenon of ridicule, it is without a doubt still a necessary part of 21st Century communicative practice. Despite Orwell’s perception that PC language, as far back in the 20th Century as 1946, fostered a degradation of meaning and thus also of society, social distance still requires a level of politeness that extends beyond euphemistic terms; the ‘softening’ of racism, ageism and sexism via lexis choice is still critical in formal situations. PC language, however, should not be used excessively, lest it cement itself in the realm of parody and satire. Through more appropriate selection of setting when using PC language, the stigma associated with it should lessen. Eventually, this should result in a decline of its pejorative sense, thus elevating its status in Australian society and cementing its role as a communicative device employed to reduce discriminatory and offensive use of language.
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